Glendale Awaits Title Showdown After 41-0 Rout

It was more of a tuneup than a rout.

Glendale College’s 41-0 win over Harbor on Saturday night at Harbor was merely a formality as the Vaqueros, ranked fifth in the state, prepare for next Saturday’s showdown with unbeaten and sixth-ranked Moorpark in what figures to be the deciding game in the Western State Conference Northern Division.

“Moorpark and Glendale is a rivalry,” Glendale offensive lineman Richard Thomassian said. “We were not looking ahead to that game tonight. But if we lost this, it would have been the screw-up of the year.”

Glendale (7-0 overall, 6-0 in conference play) started slowly against Harbor (1-7, 1-5) but was never in danger of allowing a touchdown, much less losing the game.

The Vaqueros outgained Harbor, 429 yards to 43. Running back Doug Dragomer rushed for 114 yards in 8 carries, including a 31-yard touchdown, before straining a hamstring in the second quarter. Running back Sean Hampton gained 73 yards in 12 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 14 yards.

Running back James Bledsoe and wide receiver Brian Kaloustian also scored touchdowns for Glendale.

The Vaquero defense, which allows an average of 171 yards a game, had little trouble with the Seahawks. Defensive back Brian Miller had 2 of the 4 Vaquero interceptions and the line stopped the run and recovered 4 fumbles.

Hampton started the scoring with 3:46 left in the first quarter after Harbor lost its second fumble.

The Vaqueros’ 39-yard scoring drive was anything but impressive. In fact, the drive would have been stopped at the Harbor 40 if the Seahawks had not been penalized for having too many men on the field.

The touchdown seemed to awaken the Vaqueros, who scored 24 points in the second quarter.

Dragomer capped a 7-play, 77-yard drive with his touchdown run. Then Miller’s 44-yard interception return of a Luis Solorio pass set the stage for an 11-yard, 4-play drive that Hampton capped with a run around right end to make the score 22-0 with 11:48 left in the half.

Glendale drove 99 yards in 7 plays on its next possession, Darren Fitzgerald passing 10 yards to Kaloustian for the touchdown.